Actress Emma Thompson Slams Harvey Weinstein: 'He's a Predator'

British actress Emma Thompson slammed Harvey Weinstein this week after two bombshell exposés resulted in dozens of women coming forward with accusations of sexual harassment and assault.

Thompson, 58, said that while she has never known of specific instances of alleged misconduct, the accusations came as no surprise. Speaking with BBC Newsnight this week, Thompson called the harassment and assault “endemic to the system.”

“What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg, you know he’s — I don’t think you can describe him as a ‘sex addict,’ he’s a predator,” she said. “But what he’s, as it were, at the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment, and belittling, and bullying, and interference, and what my mother would have referred to in the old days as ‘pestering.’”

Thompson went on to say that the industry must address “crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity, which is this sort of behavior.” When asked whether she thought the misconduct in the industry stretched beyond just Weinstein, she responded: “Of course.”

“Maybe not to that degree,” she said. “Do they have to all be as bad as him to make it count? Does it only count if you really have done it to loads and loads and loads of woman? Or does it count if you do it to one woman once? I think the latter.”

Weinstein, 65, is alleged to have sexually harassed or assaulted more than two dozen women, some of whom are high profile celebrities. Cara Delevingne, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the growling list of women who claim Weinstein acted inappropriately toward them and with sexual intent.

The former studio executive was fired from the Weinstein Company following explosive reports from the New York Times and New Yorker, respectively, and police in both New York and London have launched criminal investigations into the claims. His wife of ten years, designer Georgina Chapman, 41, released a statement this week announcing she was separating from her husband.

“My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband,” she said in a statement to People. “Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time.”

Weinstein is currently in treatment at a rehabilitation center in Arizona.